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New MozillaZine Member Area

by CHRIS NELSON | Since August, MozillaZine has seen a number of changes - the merging of mozillaZine and MozBin, the change of layout based on viewer feedback, and the addition of viewer polls.

The Origin of the Membership Idea

We had been toying with the idea of a wishlist voting section, but we realized that for it to mean anything we'd need to have better accountability than the current polling mechanism afforded us. And we wanted to do it without the need for permanent cookies on the viewer's system (if the user has disabled cookies, the accounting is useless). So, we decided to implement a free member area so that we could better keep track of wishlist votes, and keep people from voting numerous times (we know we can't stop it, but we can keep multiple votes to a minimum).

However, we wanted the member area to be more than just an accounting mechanism - we wanted to offer more to people who go to the trouble of signing up with us.

Talkback Enhancements

First, you will have a unique login name that can identify you in the talkback forums. This name will be in bold to identify you as a member. This will give you a degree of protection against pretenders passing themselves off as you. We still allow anonymous posting in the forums, but no one will be able to post anonymously posing as a member.

Also, a link to your User Bio page can accompany your posts in the forums.

User Bio Pages

Members can create a Bio page for themselves, complete with photo. This bio can be linked to from the forums, so other members can learn more about you.

Wishlist Voting

Based on the response to our "Mozilla features" poll a few weeks ago, we decided to implement a method in which people could vote for the features they'd most like to see in Mozilla. Our Wishlist section will be coming online soon, available to all mozillaZine members. The results of each vote will be passed to Brendan Eich of mozilla.org, who will in turn pass the results directly to Mozilla's module owners. Members will also be given the opportunity to send us their own wishes, which may be incorporated into later wishlist votes.

Features Yet To Come

We have other plans for our members, so stick around. If you have ideas for new features, write us at mozineFeatures@mozillazine.org

Privacy

Mozillazine will not distribute your user info to anyone. If you allow your email address to be visible in the forums, we cannot guarantee that a 'bot won't scour our pages and grab email addresses.

However, regarding all of your personal info, whether it is displayed or not is up to you, and if you change your mind it's easy to hide your information again. Just go back into your account form, or bio page form, and uncheck the appropriate boxes.

We Need Your Feedback

If you encounter any bugs (or unclear instructions) during the member signup process, please write us at mozineBugs@mozillazine.org so we can get them fixed fast.

Got a response? TalkBack!

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